Doctor: Farrah Fawcett's Cancer Spread to Her Liver

April 6, 2009

Farrah Fawcett is being treated at an L.A.-area hospital for anal cancer that spread to her liver, her doctor revealed today.

The actress underwent a "minor procedure" in Germany -- where she was undergoing alternative treatments -- that led to a small amount of bleeding into a muscle in her abdominal wall," her Los Angeles cancer specialist Dr. Lawrence Piro told the Associated Press. The bleeding created a sac of blood that caused pressure and pain, he continued. The actress, 62, revealed she had anal cancer in 2006. The following year, she held a press conference to announce she was in remission, but her cancer returned shortly after.

See photos of stars who beat cancer. The recent operation was related to the spread of cancer to the liver, her doctor added. Despite reports on RadarOnline.com that she was unconscious, her doctor told Reuters: "She remains in good spirits with her usual sense of humor...If everything goes as we hope, we plan to discharge her later in the week." Her longtime boyfriend Ryan O'Neal asked fans to "pray for her" but said, "this is not at death's door." Fawcett's unconventional treatments she's receiving in Germany will be broadcast in an NBC documentary, A Wing and a Prayer.

"It's never had anything to do with stem cells," or alternative treatments like shark cartilage, coffee enemas or unproven "detoxification" diets, the documentary's producer Craig Nevius said. "It's much more scientific than that. It's not a fringe treatment," he said, and the doctors have "multiple, multiple degrees." In an earlier statement, Nevius said Fawcett was grateful to "her fans, who have offered their constant support throughout her fight, as well as out of concern for the countless of other cancer patients who have written to her to say that they are following her story in the hope that there is hope." Meanwhile, her troubled 24-year-old son Redmond O'Neal was arrested on suspicion of bringing narcotics into a jail facility after admitting he was carrying drugs, L.A. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore confirms. He is being held on $25,000 bail.

Redmond and his father Ryan were arrested last September on suspicion of meth possession after police raided their Malibu home. Redmond pleaded not guilty to drug charges last month, while Ryan was sentenced to an 18-month drug program.

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